Stitching Resist Shibori + Embroidered Fabric; Crest

This particular piece is from a series of hand dyed and detailed cotton pieces measuring about 30" square. The edges are hemmed, but they could make a really beautiful pillow or wall piece. I can't decide! You tell me how you would like to piece. The pillows I would back with a lovely linen, either dyed with indigo or left natural and sewn with an invisible zipper.

All works are created over a long period of time. At least a month but up to 6 months. The unbleached natural osnaburg cotton is first washed, as a dyed fiber must be to take the dye well. A pattern is freely hand drawn using chalk on the raw fabric. Then using extra strong sewing thread, the design is hand stitched using the running or overcast stitch. When pulled extremely tight, the thread and bunched fabric forms a resist, blocking the dye. In this case an organic indigo dye vat is used for this lovely blue. After several dips in the vat, the piece is carefully rinsed, and then the stitching is removed. A thorough washing is necessary to remove the untaken dye, and you are left with the pattern that was drawn as the negative space the threads left. But that's not all. Using embroidery thread, extra special details are hand stitched onto the textile. Zoom in for a closer look! I love picking just the right color for each extra detail added. Metallic gold is my absolute favorite, but balancing with a dusty purple makes it magic.